NIH Shared Instrumentation Grant and High-End Instrumentation Grant

NIH Instrumentation Grants (SIG and HEI) provide a mechanism for NIH-supported investigators to obtain high end instrumentation.

Info

The National Institutes of Health Shared Instrumentation Grant program is designed to provide for the acquisition or updating of expensive shared-use instrumentation not generally available through other NIH mechanisms, such as the regular research project, program project, or center grant programs. The SIG Program provides a cost-effective mechanism for groups of NIH-supported investigators to obtain commercially-available, technologically sophisticated equipment costing more than $100,000.

For purpose of eligibility, a major user group of three or more investigators must be identified. A minimum of three major users must be Principal Investigators on NIH peer reviewed research grants at the time of the application and award. For purposes of this program, research grants are defined as those grants awarded with the following activity codes: P01, R01, U01, R35, R37, DP1 and DP2.

There is also a continuing need for an NIH program that provides expensive, high-end instruments to the broad community of basic and clinical scientists. To meet this need, the HEI program supports expensive, high-end instruments.

The focus of the HEI Program is on a new generation of instruments that cost over $1,000,000 but the floor for the program has been set at $750,000. Applications for routine instruments such as midfield NMR spectrometers or other applications for requests totaling over $750,000 which are the result of an over-estimation of price and/or an excessive number of accessories, are not appropriate.

Applicants may also propose an Integrated Instrument system in which the components, when used in conjunction with one another, perform a superior or innovative function that no single component instrument could provide for the user group. The integrated components must be dedicated to the system and not used independently. Increase in productivity or efficiency is not sufficient justification for an integrated system. The Integrated Instrument cannot require research and development but may include minor adaptations, as needed, to connect commercially available instruments and components.

The Clinical and Translational Science Awards(CTSA) is a registered trademark of DHHS.

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